


Loki's Revenge

by Dillian



Series: Cruelty has Consequences [2]
Category: Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, M/M, More tags to be added as I think of other ways for Loki to punish his ex-torturers, Other, Rape/Non-con Elements, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:33:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23098642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dillian/pseuds/Dillian
Summary: Loki's Punishment is the story about how Thor was tasked with punishing his adoptive brother.  By ancient Asgardian tradition, Loki was to be tortured until his mind was broken, at which point he'd be rehabilitated into Asgardian society.  Thor could not break himself to be so cruel to someone who'd grown up as his brother though, and so he gave the task to his Midgardian friends, Tony and Pepper Potts.  They did their best with it.  When they finally gave up and begged Thor to take Loki back to Asgard, they were nearly broken themselves.Loki was confined for ten years in a SHIELD prison.  During that time, HYDRA took public control, first of SHIELD, then of the United States.  This is the reason for Dr. Doom's interference.  Of Romany heritage, he remembers all too well how the Nazis treated his people while they had control of Germany. He fears what their offshoot HYDRA might do now, to his own home country, Latveria.  He  steals Loki meaning to use him as a defensive weapon, but Loki will not agree to work with him, unless he first gets revenge against everyone who wronged him ten years before.
Relationships: Jarvis (Iron Man movies)/Pepper Potts, Jarvis (Iron Man movies)/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Jarvis (Iron Man movies)/Tony Stark, Loki & Victor von Doom, Loki/Tony Stark/Victor von Doom, Lucia Von Bardas & Victor von Doom
Series: Cruelty has Consequences [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660222
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. All Is Not Well With the Stark Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a ruthlessly edited version of the story I had already started. Why? Doom and Loki have never been the easiest characters for me to write in the first place. It just comes more natural to me to slip into Tony's casual modern vernacular. Number two, I wanted to put the revenge first, instead of getting bogged down in a lot of villain-negotiations right out the door. The villain-negotiation bits will come later on in the story. If I can polish my Doom skills a little before I get to that part, that will only make the story better.

**[Fandom: MCU, Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes** ****  
**Characters: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Morgan Stark, JARVIS** **  
** **Author’s note: This is a fan-work, meant for enjoyment only, and not for any material profit]**

Some people deserve a story. Some people would be best forgotten. Was there ever a time when Tony used to believe his own press? All that about, oh, Stark Industries _defeated the Nazis_ , and Howard Stark was _such a hero_ , and Tony Stark is the genius that’s _keeping America free_ , etcetera. What a load of crap. Surely he knew that all along?

But there were the years when he was Iron Man, and there were all of his dreams about what his arc reactor-controlled suits could do. And that night on top of the Stark building, what was it he said to Pepper? Something about “If I was Iron Man,” and “my girlfriend would be so proud of me, and she’d be so conflicted,” and some other stuff that wasn’t true even back then. Sure as shit isn’t true now.

It was Loki that taught Tony he’ll never be a hero. Not when he and Pepper briefly held him prisoner after Thor asked them to. That was small, and it was short, and it was justified. Loki was a criminal. He was being punished by the laws that are in place in his country or whatever you would call Asgard, and he was perfectly capable of handling everything that they did to him, even the Mark ∞… 

The Mark ∞ bothers Tony some sometimes, but that’s not because of Loki. Sometimes it’ll come into his head, just all out of the blue. Maybe he’ll wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to get back to sleep, there it’ll be in his head. The Mark ∞ is going after Loki, and there’s blood on that genitalia of its… No, not the Mark ∞. JARVIS. What did the loyal AI ever do to deserve being used that way? But, Loki? Eh, they were doing that to him in Asgard too, weren’t they?

But since then… Since then is when Tony’s recognized that he can never be a hero. Because he compromises. The thing he always used to despise Howard for, and now he’s doing it himself. His dad knew about HYDRA’s infiltration of SHIELD, because he had to have, how could he not? And he still worked for them, he thought it was for the greater good. Now Tony’s doing the same damn thing. And they still call him in to consult on Loki sometimes, even though they’ve had him for almost ten years now.

“We need to see your research again,” they’ll say, or, “we need you to design more tech for us,” or something like that. Maybe they want him to feel implicated in this, but please. If they know his psychology: Tony always feels implicated in everything.

And he’ll go in… Loki is like a living skeleton these days, and those little HYDRA scientists will say excitedly, “Oh look, we have so much more information on how long he can survive food, oh yay, oh hooray.” And he’s filthy, because if he can survive with food, then going without a bath must be a walk in the park, amirite? And he _never_ looks like he’s gotten any sleep since the last time Tony was there.

Implicated. That’s what he is alright, yep. And why does he go on with it? Why does he let them keep calling him in to see Loki? The Greater Good he tells himself, that glorious, so-wonderful Greater Good that doesn’t really exist probably, but it keeps him getting out of bed and going in there.

Thanos, that was the name of the guy that sent Loki to attack the Earth with the Chitauri. Thanos is an alien, even more super-powered than Loki, per the information that Sam Wilson got out of him, all those years ago. Sooner or later Thanos is going to try again, maybe he’ll come himself, or maybe he’ll send some other alien who’s stupid enough to work with him. Anything they can find out about alien endurance is bound to be useful in defeating him.

~~Here are the things Tony won’t let himself think about, not even when he’s like this, all whiny and self-pitying. Number one: He’s drinking too much. He really is just like his father these days, Daddy’s never very far away from a glassful of his Daddy-juice. Why can’t he sleep past three AM anymore? It’s the booze. And why is he getting a belly on him, and why can’t he perform for Pepper. Everybody knows it, and they probably talk about it when he’s not around: Tony Stark is just one intervention away from an AA membership these days.~~

~~But we can’t let ourselves think about things like that, can we? And number two, there’s Loki’s scepter. HYDRA has been on Tony more and more about working with that thing, but something always seems to get in the way from his actually doing it. Why? Good question. Thing is obviously powerful, who knows what you could do with it with a little bit of tinkering. And it’s not like they’ve got the Tesseract anymore to tinker with, because that went back to Asgard with Thor, now didn’t it? So why not fuck with it some? There just isn’t a good answer. But he doesn’t.~~

~~And number three: Number three is the one that makes him sick to his stomach. Because none of that information they’re getting on Loki will do them any good at all dealing with Thanos, now will it? It won’t, _because it’s not relevant._ Because Loki is a Frost Giant, he comes from a planet near Asgard, named Jotunheim. Nobody knows what Thanos is, but he’s not from Jotunheim. What good is a lot of Frost Giant information going to do against him? But the HYDRA guys keep talking like it will. Because they’re stupid? Because they’re sick, they like torturing people. _And Tony Fucking Stark just keeps standing by and letting them._ ~~

__________________________

She didn’t start out, cheating on Tony with Happy Hogan. First, Pepper was Tony’s wife. She was a good wife to him, and he was… Well, at first he was a good husband to her. It was about a year after ~~( _Loki_ ) ~~ what happened with Thor and his brother, Tony was working hard, and he seemed like he was getting past what had happened a little bit. No lie, it wasn’t easy for either of them to get past it. They did things, both of them… Well they had to, didn’t they? They were doing what Thor asked them to do, and besides, it’s no good crying over spilled milk anyway, the best thing to do is get on with your life.

Anyway, stuff happened, but after it was over, it felt like things were maybe starting to get back to normal a little bit. And Tony and Pepper were both very busy with work, which helped as well. And he said to her, “Let’s get married.” At the time, it felt like that was another step they could take toward the normal life they both wanted.

At first it really was pretty good. You want to know the best day? There were a lot of good ones, this was the very best day: Pepper and Tony were trying to have a baby. You know those tests you get at the grocery store? The ones with the little blue lines on them? Somewhere she’s still got the test that showed them that Morgan was going to join their family. Why? Good question. It’s a kind of a gross thing to give your daughter, and why else would she keep it? But she has it. It’s a testament to the last really good day between her and Tony.

Because after that he started drinking. After that he buried himself in his work even more than before, and that with the drinking just sort of ate up his whole life. After that it felt like she was always lonely, and then Morgan came along, but babies don’t really make you all that much less lonely. Babies need to be taken care of, but sometimes a woman likes to be taken care of a little bit herself too. 

When was it supposed to be Pepper’s time? That sounds kind of self-pitying, doesn’t it, but please: It’s true, isn’t it? But it never was Pepper’s time. And Morgan needed her, and Tony needed her (when he was home anyway). At first Happy was just a friend ~~,~~ ~~which is how it should have stayed~~ …

No. The affair was completely justified. Tony stopped being able to perform after several years of hard drinking. A woman has needs. And it hasn’t taken her away from her work, and it hasn’t stopped her from taking care of Morgan.

Pre-Kindergarten, three afternoons a week: Those are Pepper’s afternoons, hers and Happy’s. There’s a boutique hotel just a couple of miles from the preschool. Easiest thing in the world to drop Morgan off there, then go and meet Happy at the hotel. And he takes care of her just like Tony used to do. A bottle of wine chilling, and some room service, and the kind of sweet words every woman needs, once in awhile. As a lover he’s not very imaginative, but he is thorough, wonderfully, deliciously thorough.

And after that, life feels easier again. And she picks up Morgan, she takes her back home for JARVIS to take care of her. And Pepper will go back to the Stark Building to finish her own work there. She’ll meet Happy there sometimes, and they’re just friends; to look at them, you would never know there was anything between them.

She should leave Tony. But if she did that then he’d really go downhill, wouldn’t he? Even more than he has now. This way at least they still have some kind of a life together, and who knows, maybe someday things will be good between them again.

__________________________

Here is how Morgan Stark finds out that something bad is happening: She comes out from Pre-Kindergarten just like always. First she says good-bye to all her friends, then Teacher Nancy has to remind her to go get her backpack and her art project. Then she goes out in the hall where Mama is always waiting for her. Today it’s one of the JARVIS suits waiting for her, not Mama.

At first, Morgan is mad. It’s never a good day when JARVIS picks her up. JARVIS isn’t fun like Mama. At first Morgan’s just thinking about that, she’s thinking that Mama probably got busy having adult time with Uncle Happy, and that’s not fair, that’s just mean. JARVIS doesn’t play games with her, and if she wants a snack she’ll have to eat it by herself. Then they go home, and the house is empty. After that she feels even madder, and she also feels sort of sorry for herself, like she’s deserted or something.

Back then though, she thought it wasn’t real. Back then Morgan thought this was just another day like any other day. Not like a good day, but like a really rotten day. Mama was busy having adult time with Uncle Happy, and Daddy was at work, or maybe he’d gone to a bar. But then the hours went by, and nobody came home. And then she went to bed, and nobody had come home, and then she woke up, and… Here’s the scary part: Still nobody!

JARVIS isn’t nice. What Mama always said: “He’s not there to be nice, Morgan. JARVIS’ job is to take care of the house.” Mama used to say, “Your daddy and I are here if you want somebody to be nice to you…” _Daddy and Mama aren’t here now though._

“Where’s Daddy?” You start acting like a baby when you’re worried about something. Morgan knows JARVIS can’t answer her, and even if she didn’t know the first time, she must have asked the question about a bajillion times.

JARVIS always says, “Your father is busy…” Like, he knows that? How does he know that?

And half the time Morgan can be quiet after he tells her that, but the other time she’ll keep on being babyish. And, “Where’s Mama?” she’ll say.

She’ll get the same answer again, “Your mother is busy.”

JARVIS doesn’t know this. He can’t. Nobody could know it. _Something weird has happened, andthis is really scary._


	2. Deceptive Allies Begin Their Plan

**[Fandom: MCU, Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes** ****  
**Characters: Loki, Lucia von Bardass, Doctor Doom, Pepper Potts** **  
****Author’s note: This is a fan-work, meant for enjoyment only, and not for any material profit]**

Here is is a conversation that Loki heard fairly early on during his stay in the mortal prison: “No food for how long?” It was the one named Ross who asked this. "Thunderbolt" Ross, he called himself; a typically self-congratulatory Midgardian appellation.

And his flunky gave an answer: “Stark estimates at least a year, sir.”

“And he could still do what?” Ross asked. He was delighted when he heard what Loki had managed to accomplish during that earlier period of starvation.

After that the Midgardian policy quickly became apparent: Loki was to be fed only enough to keep him functioning. If his performance or his general well-being improve too much, his rations were then cut. Likewise, the weaker and nearer death he appeared, the more he was fed. With such incentive, who would not feign as much weakness as possible? Loki has honed his illusory powers over the years of his captivity. At this point he could fool even the Asgardian bitch Frigga, who once pretended to be his mother.

He certainly fooled the woman who was sent by Doom to rescue him from his cell. Ms. von Lardass she called herself, or some such. “‘Lord Doom’s’ second in-command,” was her other preferred description, though it was apparent from that first meeting, that she is given no actual responsibility, and merely set to performing rote tasks for her master.

This Ms. von Lardass appeared in Loki’s cell, some several years into his imprisonment. His illusory appearance was then, such as it had been his practice to maintain, the illusion of starvation close unto death which had shown itself to result in his best chance at survivable rations. To any who entered the cell he appeared a skeleton, gaunt and clad in stinking rags. He knew even on her arrival that this was not one of his normal captors, nonetheless he held the illusion in place, why? In case his captors might be observing? No. Rather, Loki had grown to enjoy the reactions that it elicited from mortals. It interested him to find out how this Ms. von Lardass would respond.

Her reaction was shock, mixed with a pity that she tried unsuccessfully to hide behind her pretense of being a creature of duty. And after she released Loki from his chains, using some arcane spell that she appeared to recite merely from rote, very quickly he was given water aplenty, and food, a little at a time, as one would do for someone who was really near death from starvation.

Loki was not near death, having been fed regularly over the years, albeit small portions only, of food that was barely edible. His illusion created a pleasing reaction however, and the response of amazement from Ms. von Lardass the following day, when he again resumed his normal appearance? Delightful.

Loki was taken before her master, the self-titled “Lord Doom.” Conversation overheard from before he entered: “Lord Doom, he has completely regenerated overnight,” she said.

“An illusion.” The first time Loki heard “Lord Doom’s” voice. Rasping, clanging like the metal with which he shrouds himself. The arrogance of the nickname, and of the ostentatious appearance, and those are as nothing, compared with the confidence Doom puts in his own understanding. “Frost Giants are known to be shapeshifters,” he said, “no doubt he is still in the condition you found him in yesterday.”

This is a characteristic of “Lord Doom.” He believes his skills of ratiocination to be all-powerful. The arrogant are always so easy to fool. But Doom is a formidable adversary, and Loki will have to be careful, if he is to prevail.

The woman ushered Loki into “Lord Doom’s” presence.

“Greetings, Loki.” Again, that clanging, arrogant voice. “You look well.”

“Greetings, mortal.” Even from behind his mask one could see Doom was nettled by this slighting response.

It was there in his voice, which had perhaps a touch less arrogant, as he responded, “I see you have completely recovered. Perhaps I should return this food to the kitchen.”

The food was a veritable feast, roast meat and fresh bread, and the young wine much cherished by the mortals of Doom’s realm, which tastes like grape juice, only slightly soured. Seeing it… Despite all his pretense, Loki had been on short commons for an eternity, it seemed like; the food reminded him forcibly of this, though he’d not have eaten it if he had to give Doom even the slightest advantage by doing so.

“A gift?” he said though, his voice cool. “How appropriate, mortal.”

Again, that same nettled reaction from Doom, but he said no more. Loki ate, having vouchsafed him nothing, and the victory was as pleasing as the meal.

While he was eating, Doom talked. He said many things. “You are powerful, Frost Giant...” Doom’s insistence upon Loki’s heritage is offensive, but it is also a weakness to be exploited. He views Loki as a mere monster and creature of instinct, and this blinds him to the strength of one who is Jotun-born, but trained in Vanir magic and Asgardian combat skills as well. It will be to his detriment eventually, thus Loki ignores the insult. 

“...You are powerful, but Doom will not be so cruel as to keep you a perpetual captive…” Here is another thing about “Lord Doom:” He lies. All it would take for him to hold Loki here forever would be for him to believe it advantageous for his precious plans… And for him to be able to hold him, which he cannot; “Lord Doom” will fail.

“...According to Doom’s research,” the arrogant monarch continued, “you also brought an extraterrestrial weapon with you, even more powerful than yourself.”

The Mind Stone, he means. The treasure, Asgardian originally, but taken by force no doubt from some hapless victim, and held in Thanos’ vault until he gave it to Loki.

“That weapon will be yours,” Doom said, which was another lie. “Doom is in the process of obtaining it, and will give it to you for the price of a small favor. I want Tony Stark destroyed. You will not feel regret at doing this, I assume?”

 _Assume_ , the Midgardians say, makes an ass out of you and me. Clever, albeit vulgar phrasing, that warns against taking anything about one’s adversary for granted. Doom makes a mistake, to think that Loki cares much of anything for the fate of the mortal Stark. During the years that Loki has been imprisoned, Stark has been doing a very good job of destroying himself. Back at the beginning of his time in the Midgardian prison it is true that Loki used to feel some enjoyment at his old foe’s apparent discomfiture. By the end though, even that was gone. Stark in his own way was as pathetic as the image of himself that Loki used to show his captors. Unlike with Loki though, Stark’s appearance was full reality. He is a broken, pathetic husk of a being, and anything Loki did to him…

Perhaps there will be some slight enjoyment. A cat enjoys playing with a mouse after all, even though the mouse’s fate is already preordained.

“You’re giving me my freedom, and the Mind Stone, in return for Stark’s destruction?” Asking, Loki already knew Doom was lying to him. “A rash promise.”

“No such thing!” The insincerity of Doom’s assurances was amusing. “From what Doom has read, your ambitions lie back on Asgard. Mine are here, in ‘Midgard,’ as you call it.” Each of them with their own realm to control, in other words. A petty idea, albeit not one with much reality behind it. “I’ll give you the Mind Stone…” Fascinating, how once he thought himself within view of his objective, all of Doom’s pretense seemed to vanish, and his greed grew more apparent with each word he said. “After you destroy Stark for me, it is yours, and you may do with it as you please.”

Here is the thing: Doom cannot give Loki the Mind Stone. The gem already belongs to him; it is a treasure of Asgard, and Loki is that realm’s rightful King. Doom cannot give Stark to him either; now that he’s free again, Loki could go and take him anytime he cared to do so. Not that he would be interested. It is delightful watching Stark destroy himself. Why interrupt something that is already being done so well and so enjoyably? But Doom will put up a fight when Loki tries to take the gem and return to Asgard. That fight will be stronger, depending how strong Doom believes Loki to be. Best then to appear as weak as possible. Let Doom think he is too weak to take what is rightfully his, and so consumed by years-old grudges that he cares to torture Stark’s weak, drunken husk. Best that the arrogant Latverian think it so easy to control a god, and that he not find out otherwise until Loki is long-gone.

“My ambitions are as you say, in Asgard,” Loki tells Doom. “But you are correct, there is an old grudge I’d like to settle with Stark. I shall destroy him for you, as you request. You in return will obtain the Mind Stone and give it to me.”

“Agreed.” Doom put forward his iron-clad right hand. “And we’ll shake on it?”

Shaking hands, the Midgardian ritual used to demonstrate honor and good-faith. How often is it used as it was that day, by two liars, one only slightly more capable of deception than the other?

__________________________

Friday, April 3d is the last Friday before Morgan’s school's Spring Break. Two weeks away from school, that’s six times that Pepper won’t be able to get together with Happy, not without a lot more lying than she has to do now. At the back of her mind, Pepper thinks about June and the end of the school year, which is getting closer every day. It’s not a pleasant thought. She’s grown too spoiled and used to getting her pleasure regularly. It’s going to come hard, having to work around her daughter’s summer schedule. For now though, she pushes the thought from her mind. Today at least, she’ll meet Happy.

When she arrives at the hotel, he’s not there yet. Tony probably kept him for longer than usual, she thinks. No doubt he had a very important bottle that had to be fetched from BevMo, or some such. She goes on upstairs to their prearranged suite, where she takes care of the usual preparations: A bottle of wine and a charcuterie board ordered from Room Service, and the jacuzzi filled with hot-hot water, and her favorite scented bath oil. And her negligee, silk and handmade lace, in the delicate shade of salmon-pink that is almost the shade of her skin. Pepper takes care of all this, and afterward Happy still hasn’t arrived. She should think about throwing a tantrum. Even at 45, a girl can still learn new skills, and it works so well when other women do it.

On the television, there is the rerun of some Food Network program or another. Just some noise to fill up the silence. “You _donkey_ ,” a celebrity whose name she can’t place shouts, and, “Yes chef, yes chef,” chorus the nobody-guests on his program. There is a discrete knock. Happy never knocks, so thinking that her food must have arrived, Pepper wraps herself in the complementary white terry bathrobe before answering the door.

“Your food, madame.” There’s the slight tinge of a European accent to the brunette’s voice. “May I bring it in please?”

“Of course.”

How long has it been since Pepper experienced actual physical danger? Since the Battle of New York? No, before that, it was before that. Back seat of the limo, Happy is trying to stop Vanko from killing Tony on the racetrack at Monaco. Live electricity snapping from those whips he carried, any one of which could have set their car on fire and killed all of them. The feeling that was in her stomach then, absolute panic, panic so strong she could have thrown up, but as always she had to keep it together.

“Are you going to cry?” The brunette had Pepper bound and gagged in the back seat of a black car, when she asked this. Her voice was cool, and very slightly curious.

 _No, I’m not going to cry. I’m Pepper Potts, I can’t cry, I’m the one who has to keep it together._ The thoughts went through her head, such selfish, self-pitying thoughts. I can never cry, because I’m always the one who has to keep it together. I never get to panic, and nobody ever rescues me… No one will rescue me this time, you’ll see, either I’ll rescue myself or I’ll die… 

“You are crying.” Stopped at a stoplight, the brunette looked back at her, commenting, her voice smug. “Weak American tears.”

The brunette is Latverian. Pepper knew that already, having seen the small kingdom’s green-and-red logo on the car door. Latveria, a rogue nation in the new Pax Americana that was enabled by Stark technology. One of the few countries left that doesn’t cooperate in protecting the planet from another alien invasion. “A stubborn country,” President Pierce calls it. Pepper’s always admired them a little for that stubbornness. SHIELD/HYDRA might protect the planet, but sometimes it seems like the price they charge for that protection is a cruel one. The last things she would have expected though, was for this stubborn little country to turn up and take her prisoner.

 _Where are you taking me,_ she wants to ask, but of course she’s gagged. Anyhow, she should have known without asking, she thinks, as the car makes its way through city streets to the Latverian Embassy, close-by to the now-deserted United Nations building. Where else?

“Tony’s going to come for me.” She says this to her brunette captor, as soon as she removes her gag. “He’ll rescue me, him and Happy,” she asserts, though she doesn’t believe a word of it. Tony will dissolve in a drunken puddle, and Happy is too stupid to manage the rescue on his own. She’ll be trapped here she thinks, and thinking it, that sick feeling comes back into her chest. Soon she won’t be able to swallow, she’ll cry again…

“Lord Doom is expecting your Mr. Stark,” the brunette says in her cool voice, “Lord Doom and Prince Loki…”

Loki? A lot becomes suddenly clear, now. Pepper thinks about the miserable victim she and Tony tortured all unknowing, back so many years ago. He’s been held in solitary confinement in a SHIELD/HYDRA prison ever since, hasn’t he? And now he’s working with Doom?

Suddenly she hopes that Happy won’t come for her. Tony would be alright, he’s halfway destroyed himself already anyhow. Let him come and sacrifice himself. While Loki’s playing cat-and-mouse with him, maybe she can get away.

A selfish way for a wife to think, isn’t it? But a lot of water has gone under the bridge since Pepper and Tony ever had a good relationship together, and besides, she has a daughter to think of. If Happy’s going anywhere, Pepper hopes it was to the house. He can help JARVIS take care of Morgan, until she can get there.


End file.
